Article on defense

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

There was no mistaking the off-season focus of general manager Ted Thompson, who didn't rest on the laurels of a Packers defense that ranked first against the pass and seventh for total yards last season.

He committed potential earnings of more than $60 million to nab three starters in free agency and made another sizable investment in taking linebacker A.J. Hawk with the No. 5 overall pick in the draft. The Packers could have at least five new starters.
Hawk's arrival came on the heels of Thompson completing his free-agent dealings with the signing of four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Charles Woodson to a seven-year, $39 million deal. Woodson, provided he can dodge his susceptibility to injury, stands to make more than $10 million this year and will team with Al Harris to give the Packers one of the top shutdown tandems.

Throw in Marquand Manuel, a productive safety in Seattle's run to the Super Bowl last season, and the secondary is the strength of the defense. Manuel has unseated the pedestrian Mark Roman at strong safety and will be counted on to bring a hard-hitting mentality that has escaped the defense in recent years.

Ryan Pickett was an enforcer up front for St. Louis in 2005, so much that the Packers meted out a four-year, $14 million contract in tapping the former first-round draft pick as the aging Grady Jackson's replacement at nose tackle. Though not nearly as heavy as Jackson, Pickett is beset by weight issues and admitted he had to shed 10 pounds by training camp to come down from 325.

Although Woodson gives the defense a star presence that had been lacking, the reshaped linebacker corps is where the appeal lies.

Middle linebacker Nick Barnett, the defensive leader last season, is the lone returning starter after veterans Na'il Diggs and Robert Thomas were released. Hawk, and his reckless abandon, will start from the get-go on the weak side, giving the Packers two young cornerstones at linebacker around whom to build for the future. If not a third with third-round draftee Abdul Hodge, who will be Barnett's understudy for the time being. Ben Taylor, meanwhile, was a free-agent addition by way of Cleveland who has taken hold of the starting spot on the strong side.

Thompson turned to Canada to try to resolve the team's punting woes, and Jon Ryan has been as good as advertised. The deep-hitting Ryan distanced himself from incumbent B.J. Sander in off-season workouts.


Reading this makes me feel very optimistic about the D.

[The Shadow]

Me, too!

[Partial]

I am going to throw out the partial ridiculous prediction that I will say told you so if it comes true but say it was just a mindless, fun statement if it doesn't pan out of the week is that Hodge will be starting at MLB by week 3 of camp, and Barnett is the starter at the strong side.

That's all i've got for you tonight. goodnight!

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

And am willing to predict that al harris is there day one of camp, with no new deal.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I am going to throw out the partial ridiculous prediction that I will say told you so if it comes true but say it was just a mindless, fun statement if it doesn't pan out of the week is that Hodge will be starting at MLB by week 3 of camp, and Barnett is the starter at the strong side.

That's all i've got for you tonight. goodnight!

You and a million other people. I just think this is a horrible idea, and I keep repeating myself, but unless Hodge is an absolute terror, this is a bad idea. Barnett's best fit in this scheme is as a MLB. He's not a very good in coverage. If he's on the strongside, you are making him cover more. Plus, you are taking away his best strength--his sideline to sideline ability.

[wist43]

I'm cautiously optimistic about the defense, but there are concerns.

1. The pass rush hasn't been improved at all - unless Montgomery is able to make a leap. I think he has ability, but I haven't heard anything about him this offseason.

2. Woodson/Pickett/Harris... potential attitude/effort problems. Woodson has been a prima donna his whole career and has spent an awful lot of time on IR; Pickett produced last year, but that was really the only year he did it - getting paid, does he go back to being a slacker; and, Harris is whining about his contract.

3. LB. If Hodge doesn't start, who does??? Taylor??? I'm underwhelmed by that prospect. Like Partial and others, I'm a big Hodge fan - I can't fathom him not being in the starting lineup.

Those concerns aside, I think the defense will be better - no doubt. That #1 rating against the pass, and #7 overall rating was a mirage. If this defense can come in at about 12-15 in most of the defensive catagories, i.e. yds allowed, yds/rush, sacks, turnovers, et al... I'll be happy with that.

[Chester Marcol]

I'm glad TT didn't see our defense how many others have seen it, as the 7th best. I started a thread a while back because of the constent talk of our 7th best overal defense. Now, if we were 7th ranked with being 1st or 2nd in run defense and near the top of take aways, that would be different. If you look at the playoff teams of last year, the majority ranked in the middle or worse in pass defense(yards allowed) but ranked in the upper half of run defense. It makes perfect sense why we had one of the best pass defenses as ranked by the NFL. Teams were rarely behind that much against us and they were able to run the ball. The Vikings game in the dome is just one example of our true pass defense when it couldn't keep minnesota from getting into field goal position with like 30 seconds left and no time outs.

With that said, the defense was definately heading in the right direction with a proven system, but we still lacked talent. As wist said, we still need a pass rush and also we need more take aways. The stat I think is more telling and I want to see us at is top 5 in take aways and top 5 of rushing defense. Those seem to be the super bowl caliber teams.

[Partial]

I am going to throw out the partial ridiculous prediction that I will say told you so if it comes true but say it was just a mindless, fun statement if it doesn't pan out of the week is that Hodge will be starting at MLB by week 3 of camp, and Barnett is the starter at the strong side.

That's all i've got for you tonight. goodnight!

You and a million other people. I just think this is a horrible idea, and I keep repeating myself, but unless Hodge is an absolute terror, this is a bad idea. Barnett's best fit in this scheme is as a MLB. He's not a very good in coverage. If he's on the strongside, you are making him cover more. Plus, you are taking away his best strength--his sideline to sideline ability.

Didn't Barnett play rover in college? I don't understand how he can be poor in coverage. I could understand him being poor in space in a zone, but I think he'd do fine in man on man with the tight end. There has to be a way to get Hodge in the middle. He is a hitter. We have needed a hitter since LeRoy retired. With Manual and Hodge we'd be pretty tough up the middle, which goes a long way.

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

I think were still a good defense sided draft away from really being a good defense. We still need another DT to go next to pickett and we another DE to to start with kampman so we can rotate in KGB. Then we still need to draft another CB to take over when woodson and harris leave b/c they aren't getting any younger.

I guess the best thing about this is that this could all be done in one or two years and we could have a young strong defense for the next 5-7 years.

[Zool]

I am going to throw out the partial ridiculous prediction that I will say told you so if it comes true but say it was just a mindless, fun statement if it doesn't pan out of the week is that Hodge will be starting at MLB by week 3 of camp, and Barnett is the starter at the strong side.

That's all i've got for you tonight. goodnight!

You and a million other people. I just think this is a horrible idea, and I keep repeating myself, but unless Hodge is an absolute terror, this is a bad idea. Barnett's best fit in this scheme is as a MLB. He's not a very good in coverage. If he's on the strongside, you are making him cover more. Plus, you are taking away his best strength--his sideline to sideline ability.

Didn't Barnett play rover in college? I don't understand how he can be poor in coverage. I could understand him being poor in space in a zone, but I think he'd do fine in man on man with the tight end. There has to be a way to get Hodge in the middle. He is a hitter. We have needed a hitter since LeRoy retired. With Manual and Hodge we'd be pretty tough up the middle, which goes a long way.

I think the reason Barnett gets a bit of a bad rap in coverage is he tends to let the RB's get too far from him in the flats when its clearly his man. He usually ends up making the tackle but 3-4 yards downfield.

[Partial]

I think were still a good defense sided draft away from really being a good defense. We still need another DT to go next to pickett and we another DE to to start with kampman so we can rotate in KGB. Then we still need to draft another CB to take over when woodson and harris leave b/c they aren't getting any younger.

I guess the best thing about this is that this could all be done in one or two years and we could have a young strong defense for the next 5-7 years.

What they need is a really good end. That is what makes an average defense great. That is why the bears are so good. Alex Brown is probably the most underrated and under appreciated player in the league. It doesn't even matter if they get a lot of sacks, as their effect is felt every single play.